Simple, delicious garlic pasta dish made with only one pan. This is my basic method for whenever I'm making pasta quickly or just for myself, and it can be improved on easily with the addition of the fresh herbs of your choice. Can be scaled up to serve more than one person.

1: Half fill a pan with water, then place it on the stove. Sprinkle a good amount of salt in the water and turn the ring up to high.

2: Once the water is boiling, add about 5oz/150g of a pasta of your choice. I like fusilli, which is the spinny screwy one, or penne, which is the tubular one, but any nice pasta will probably work fine. Reduce the heat to medium.

3: As the pasta cooks, thinly slice half an onion and two cloves of garlic.

4: The pasta should take between five and ten minutes to cook. Check the package to see how long. When it is done drain the pasta and put it on a plate. Don’t drain it thoroughly, a few tablespoons of water resting on the plate with the pasta is a good thing.

5: Put the pan back on the stove and add about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.

6: Add the chopped onion and garlic to the pan, then wait for the garlic to start browning. This will take about five to ten minutes. Stir occasionally.

7: Put the pasta back into the pan along with any pasta water that has accumulated on the bottom of the plate, and add another tablespoon and a half or so of olive oil then stir. If the pasta appears dry, add a little more oil.

8: After fifteen or so seconds the pasta should have heated through again and everything should be mingled. Serve the pasta on the plate. For this example we’re keeping the dish as simple as possible, but this is a good place to add some finely chopped herbs like basil or parsley to add some additional flavour.

Some people aren’t so into browned garlic. If that’s you then instead of adding two cloves of chopped garlic with the onion, wait until the onion appears to have sweetened then add one clove of finely minced garlic and fry for a minute before adding the cooked pasta.